The Choice
by Violet Beatrice Baudelaire
Summary: Just a short drabble about the end of the fight scene where Mr Han saves Dre. What if Mr Han did not come, but Cheng stopped the fight himself? A little pre slash between Dre and Cheng.


The Choice

**DISCLAIMER: I am just a fan with love for the movies, I own nothing!**

Cheng stared at the smaller boy lying on the ground. He was struggling to get up but he just did not have enough energy. The beating Cheng and his friends had given Dre had left the American boy tired and in pain. Dre had fought back as much as he could, but the sad truth was that he lacked even basic fighting skills and with all of the boys against him it had been a doomed battle from the start. It was clear to all the boys who had won, but Master Li had taught them to show no mercy. So they were puzzled when they saw Cheng standing over Dre and making no move to attack him.

"Finish him or I will do it for you" Junjie growled impatiently. He was the oldest of their group and also the tallest.

Cheng ignored Junjie, while he stood thinking about what to do. The other boys stayed silent, watching as Junjie advanced towards Dre, intent on carrying out his threat only to be blocked by Cheng. "No! You will not touch him. He has had enough"

Liang quietly came to take his place at Cheng's side. He was around the same height as Dre and he was Cheng's best friend. "Cheng is right. We must stop now"

Junjie glowered at Cheng and Liang. "By defending the enemy you have dishonoured Master Li. I will make you both suffer, as well as the foreigner" He looked around at the faces of the other boys. "Let's go. Now!" He ordered, backing away before spitting on the ground. He stormed off, and most of the boys followed him, although Déwei looked back and seemed uncomfortable as he left.

Only Cheng, Liang and Liang's brother Huan remained with Dre.

"Thank you for staying with me. It was a brave choice" Cheng sighed heavily, shaking his head sorrowfully. "Junjie and the others...We can no longer consider them as our friends and we will no longer be able to train with Master Li. I don't want to train under him anymore though. It was wrong, I should have never have let it go this far"

Liang hugged Cheng and Huan slung his arms around the other boys, turning it into a group hug. "I understand, Cheng. We will stand by you whatever happens, won't we Huan?" Huan agreed with a solemn nod but did not speak. He had always been quiet, and rarely talked unless he absolutely had to.

Dre was watching them all cautiously. He was sitting up now, although his muscles made a painful protest against the move. "Can somebody tell me what just happened here?"

"Parker, I want to apologize to you" Cheng replied, bowing stiffly.

Huan spoke up next. "I am also sorry for the part I played in bullying you"

Liang smiled hesitantly at Dre. "I'm sorry too, and I hope we can become friends"

Dre seemed thoughtful. "Sure, I guess anything's possible. I'm Dre; well you guys already know that but yeah...Let's just start afresh"

"I am Liang" He pointed to his brother. "And this is Huan"

Cheng reached out a hand to Dre. "Here, let me help you up"

Dre shook his head, shrinking back. "No, I can do it on my own"

Cheng rolled his eyes and grabbed hold of Dre's hand firmly, then pulled him up to his feet despite the protests coming from the American boy. "Parker, why are you being so stubborn!" Cheng snapped.

Dre yanked his hand free from the taller boy's grasp and scowled at him. "Oh, yeah? I'm the stubborn one here really...Whatever. I know you still hate me, but that's alright. I still don't like you either, but I want you to teach me how to be like you guys. I want to be good at karate. I got some basic moves down, but hey I know I need to practice more. Fine tune some of my moves, and stuff..." Dre made some vague horribly inaccurate karate motions in the air.

Cheng laughed, his eyes lighting up with amusement and a reluctant smile spreading across his face. "_You _have some basic moves Parker?"

Liang was laughing too, and Huan had turned away, trying to conceal the fact he was also amused.

"What's so funny guys?" Dre asked, frowning at them.

"Don't worry about it, Parker..." Cheng slung an arm around Dre's shoulders. "Who wants to go get some ice-cream?"

The other boys all smiled, apart from Dre who was quietly sulking. "Whatever, as long as I get vanilla I don't really care"

Cheng nodded. "Alright. I prefer chocolate..."

Huan smiled at the mention of chocolate ice cream.

Liang shook his head slowly. "Strawberry is the best flavor!" He exclaimed as they all walked along in the sunshine. Dre was pleased inside, although he didn't show it. Finally things were looking up. His enemies were now becoming his friends. As for Cheng, Dre was not sure if he could trust him yet, but only time would tell. If they really were going to be friends, he would have to work on getting Cheng to call him Dre. That would be weird at first, but none of his other friends used his last name and Dre much preferred it that way.

**So there you have it! I feel bad that it was short, but like I said it's only a drabble and I hope you enjoyed reading it :)**


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